Few film franchises will ever owe a greater debt to the video market than Austin Powers. Saddled with terrible reviews, many of which claimed that people would walk out of the film on aeroplanes, the film struggled to make any impact on initial release. However 5 years later and the third instalment is now a critic proof summer blockbuster.
The film opens with a star studded parody of itself that culminates into a re-hash of the original films musical routine. After this the viewer is quickly introduced to a few new characters before being bombarded by a series of quick fire sketches which are tenuously linked by the theme of Austin saving the world from Dr Evil again, whilst trying to make amends with his father.
Where as the original film parodied the James Bond and other 1960s films such as Blow Up with the kind of love, care and attention that hasn't been seen in the parody genre since Mel Brooks glory days, Goldmember is perfectly content to provide variants on the material from the first two films and hope that a lingering affection for the recurring players will show through. Nowhere is this more obvious than the disappearance of Dr Evils cat in an attempt to move the characters away from Bond villain Blofeld and the way in which new villain Goldmember bears no resemblance to Goldfinger, all of which serves to make the characters look thinner than ever.
Beyonce Knowles acquits herself well in her film debut as the female lead, though this consists of little more than being able to fit into costumes the size of a postage stamp that make a whalebone corset seem as comfortable as a baggy pyjamas. That said she demonstrates more vigour and enthusiasm in announcing herself as "Foxy Cleopatra" than Liz Hurley or Heather Graham showed in the entirety of the previous two films. This is probably because she is naive enough to consider this a good acting role.
Providing a bit more experience is Michael Caine as Austin's father. He gives the impression that he's just been dragged away from a good conversation at the bar every time he appears on screen, and great opportunities to spoof The Italian Job and the Harry Palmer films pass unused.
However the presence of a big name shows up the limitation of the films budget consciousness. With Mike Myers now performing 4 roles, including three of the main protagonists, there is no tension or comic timing between characters. Instead it feels like a series of separate stand-up routines that are being performed in costume. Whilst this may help Myers in his quest to be crowned the new Peter Sellers it is a major handicap for the flow of the film.
Despite this Goldmember does provide fair entertainment value through the vast quantity of jokes that it throws at the screen, however what lacking is anything that will trigger a belly laugh. Most of the films best points are clever asides, including signs for the William Morris Talent agency inside the evil headquarters. However the stock cast is starting to become somewhat stale having stretched pencil thin ideas out to 5 hours and as such Goldmember feels like a film much better suited to an undemanding video audience than a captive cinema crowd. Maybe that's a way of saying thank you?